Brewster's Millions

Brewster's Millions is the name of a novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902. It has been turned into a play and a movie seven times with the 1985 Richard Pryor version being best known.

The story revolves around Montgomery Brewster, a poor man who inherits a large sum of money. However, there is a catch - he has to spend every penny within 30 days but still end up with nothing after that time. Should he make the deadline he stands to gain an even larger sum, should he fail he remains penniless.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Brewster finds that spending so much money is more difficult that he first thinks, especially when the lawyers are trying to get him to fail so that they can claim the money. What makes it worse is that he starts to be a little too successful with some ventures, actually making money from them. Finally, just moments before the deadline, he manages to spend the last remnants of the cash and gets his rightful inheritance.

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Movie versions

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Brewster's Millions (1985)

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Summary

Brewster is a minor league baseball player dropped from his team. He inherits $30 million and spends it numerous ways including running for the mayor of New York City (which he wins, much to his annoyance) and getting his old baseball team to play the New York Yankees.

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